


The Hole is Deep, Lucky My Arms Are Long

by thatmitchsentho



Series: PP Rare Pair Week 2018 [7]
Category: Pitch Perfect
Genre: F/F, Rare pair week 2018, pprarepairweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-23 05:38:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14325771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatmitchsentho/pseuds/thatmitchsentho
Summary: When Beca and Chloe's long distance relationship breaks up, it's pretty clear that Chloe is the one who is going to take it harder. Stacie is right there to help her through all of the rough patches, to fish her out of the deep hole she seems to be digging herself into. It's absolutely baffling to Stacie that Chloe struggles with the idea of anyone every loving her again, and then it hits her. Maybe she's a bit in love with Chloe.





	The Hole is Deep, Lucky My Arms Are Long

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the final day of PP Rare Pair Week!  
> Day Seven: Freebie

_“Chlo…” Beca trailed off. Chloe could see the pixelated form of her girlfriend on the screen pinching the bridge of her nose. She looked tired. “I’m trying to say something important here.”_

_“Okay, sorry,” Chloe said. “I just really wish you were here.”_

_“That’s the problem,” Beca said. “I’m not there, and - well, let’s be honest. You need someone who can be there. You still have a couple years of school left and I can barely get there to see you now. I’m just going to get busier and it’s not fair to you.” Chloe felt like she’d been sucker punched in the stomach. This sounded bad, it sounded like -_

_“Beca, are you breaking up with me?” Chloe asked. “You don’t love me?” Her eyes immediately filled with tears._

_“I do love you, but we can’t keep doing this mix of Skype and fighting any more,” Beca sighed. “Half the time we’re arguing because we never see each other. It’s making me… tired. I love you, Chloe, and part of me always will. But I am breaking up with you, because I want you - actually both of us - to be happy. And the way we’re going now isn’t working and I think you really know that deep down.”_

_“I can’t believe this is happening,” Chloe said. “Beca, we can keep going. I’ll be better, I promise. I’ll come to you for visits instead.”_

_“I don’t think that’s going to fix it,” Beca said. “Chlo, think about it. Really think about it. I know it’s hard and it sucks to even think it, but we’ll be better off. Eventually.” Chloe sat there silently, tears falling onto her cheeks. The worst part about this was that Beca was right. They spoke on Skype maybe once or twice a week. Generally one of them snapped at the other for being too tired to stay up all night. They saw each other way too rarely. And it was hard, beyond hard, beyond painful. She bit down on her lip but the words came anyway._

_“I love you, Beca,” Chloe said. “But I guess maybe that isn’t always enough?”_

_“I don’t regret a single second of our relationship, Chloe, you gotta know that,” Beca said. “You changed me in a really big way and I’m always going to adore you for that.”_

_“I don’t regret it either,” Chloe said, sniffling. She leaned out of frame to grab a Kleenex. “We were really great together. But you might be right. At the end of the day, I hate that you’re not here to hold and that’s just not going away. Our lives are going in opposite directions at a really fast pace.”_

_“So… we’ll be okay, right?” Beca said. “Maybe not right away, but we’ll be friends?”_

_“Please, like I would ever turn my back on a Bella,” Chloe said. But it wouldn’t be her turning away, if one of them did. Beca was the independent one, the self contained one, the one about to embark on a life-changing career track that would make her incredibly busy. If anyone would disappear it would be Beca. “Don’t disappear on me, Beca. Promise me.”_

_“I promise I will always be in your life,” Beca said. “And I love you.”_

_“I love you, too,” Chloe said. “Um… I feel like this is probably where this conversation should end. I need ice cream.”_

_“And I need bourbon,” Beca said. “I’ll check in with you soon.” Chloe went to respond, but Beca had already killed the connection. Chloe shoved her laptop off to the side and cried. She managed to clear her vision long enough to send a text to her two best friends, Stacie and Aubrey._

_[Beca and I broke up. Long distance not working. Help.]_

[THREE MONTHS LATER]

Stacie let herself into Chloe’s apartment. It was Saturday afternoon and all of her texts had gone ignored so far. She knew the redhead was home, because she’d asked her to come shopping and gotten a brush off, something about studying or maybe cleaning. Stacie knew exactly what was happening, she wasn’t an idiot. Same thing that had been happening for months.

She ignored the out-of-character messiness of the living room and kitchen - cleaning obviously wasn’t the priority - and headed down the hall, knowing full well what she’d find in the room at the end. 

Chloe was curled up on her bed hugging her pillow. Doing nothing, just squeezing it to her chest with a forlorn look on her face. She vaguely registered Stacie coming in but didn’t speak, just shifted over to give the taller girl some room to sit down. Stacie sat with a sigh and gently pried the pillow away from her face so she could look at her.

“Chloe.”

“Not today, Stace, please,” Chloe said softly. Stacie nodded. Chloe had been all over the place since the breakup. Some days she’d seem to be doing okay, some days she’d be worse and then there were days like this where it was like it was day one all over again. 

She’d shown up at Chloe’s with ice cream and wine and they’d drunk away the night while Chloe cried. The breakup wasn’t exactly a bad idea, but it was definitely going to be rougher on Chloe. Beca would just put her walls up again and keep everyone out until she was ready, but Chloe was the kind of girl who wore her heart on her sleeve and when she was down and out she still wanted someone there. Aubrey wasn’t in Atlanta, she was in Washington, so Stacie knew she’d have to be the someone.

“Did she text you?” Stacie asked. Beca had stuck to her promise to not disappear, but it wasn’t going the way Chloe had envisioned. She’d wanted them to be friends, but seeing picture messages from Beca with stupid captions about the Starbucks barista writing her name as Bucky wasn’t helping. Every single time it stung like a blade. She’d wanted this, she’d made her promise not to disappear.

“She was at lunch with Bruno Mars and he said that Total Eclipse of the Heart was the best karaoke song from the eighties,” Chloe said. “Beca and I used to bicker about that a lot. I agree with him, but she swore by Take On Me and said that anyone who disagreed was just afraid of the high note.”

“How long have you been lying here?”

“Twenty minutes,” Chloe said.

“Liar,” Stacie said.

“Not a lie, I went to the bathroom,” Chloe said. “Before that, like four hours.” Stacie sighed and tugged her upright.

“Come on mopey,” she said. “We’re going to go get some food. I’m assuming you haven’t eaten.”

“You assume correctly,” Chloe said. She closed her eyes. “Shit, that conversation is so familiar except I’m always the one assuming Beca hasn’t eaten. Hadn’t. I don’t know.” She fell against Stacie, who indulged her in it for a few moments. She knew this was hard. Knew how much Chloe had loved her.

“Okay,” Chloe said. “Can we just go pick something up and come back, though? I don’t want to be out today.” Stacie nodded and brushed her hair back from her forehead before kissing her there.

“Of course,” she said. “Whenever you’re ready.” Chloe had to change and fix her hair, so Stacie went back into the living room and tidied up a little. She didn’t touch the stuff that looked like Chloe’s notes for school - secretly pleased that she at least was staying on top of the schoolwork - and carried a couple of days worth of coffee cups and cereal bowls into the kitchen. She loaded the dishwasher and ran it and was wiping down the counters when Chloe appeared.

“Are you cleaning my apartment?” Chloe asked. “Again?”

“Yes,” Stacie said. “And judging by the content of your dishwasher you only have cereal in your house so I’d venture that you need groceries.”

“No,” Chloe said. Stacie arched an eyebrow in her direction. “Okay, yes.”

“Then let’s do that, and we’ll grab something there to eat,” Stacie said. Chloe nodded and they headed out.

Stacie didn’t leave after they’d eaten. She knew Chloe would just crawl back into bed and ignore everything and wallow in her misery. So she hung around and they sat wordlessly next to each other on the couch, pretending to watch television. They were fine together, just sitting, Chloe needing to be held just a bit, until they fell asleep.

Chloe woke in the middle of the night and smiled at her taller friend curled up on the couch next to her. She didn’t want to wake her and the couch was pretty comfortable. And she liked being warm, liked the feeling of someone being there. But it would get cold, so she reached an arm out to pull down the throw on the back of her couch, unfolding it and covering both of them as best she could, before letting herself fall asleep again.

They were quiet the next morning. Chloe felt a bit better now, but she definitely wasn’t her chirpy self. She made herself and Stacie some coffee and breakfast and they sat side by side at the breakfast nook.

“Thanks for doing this, Stacie,” she said quietly. “Again.”

“Whenever you need,” was all Stacie said in response. The next couple of weeks Chloe wasn’t too bad and soon enough she realised that she and Beca were five months post-breakup. Seeing a text from Beca didn’t make her chest hurt any more, it made her smile. So she wondered if maybe, just maybe, she might be ready to move on.

Stacie texted her with a plan to go out the next Friday night, have a few drinks and dance, which sounded absolutely perfect to Chloe. So they locked it in, the both of them looking forward to being young and single and free to enjoy the night.

Except when the Friday rolled around, Stacie was stunned into silence by a message from Aubrey. She was on her way home from work and the text was a link followed by [Make sure she’s okay Stacie, this is going to hurt].

She’d clicked the link and seen a news story on Beca. On a date. Beca Mitchell snapped on date with Kate Garcia, the headline said. Kate Garcia was only one of the most talked about actresses to emerge over the past few years. She was pretty. Very openly gay. Smart. Stacie kept reading because just because they were seen together didn’t mean they were on a date.

The kissing in the second to last picture probably did though. Chloe was going to be crushed. 

She knew there would be no way that Chloe would be coming out if she’d seen that picture. She decided to head straight to Chloe’s and deal with whatever she found when she got there. She let herself in and her heart immediately sank. She could hear the crying from the living room. It sounded like it was coming from the bathroom so she headed down the hall and knocked on the door.

“Chlo?” she asked softly. “You in there honey?”

“Yeah,” the other girl sniffled. “It’s unlocked.” Stacie slowly opened the door. Chloe had a bottle of vodka in her hand and was sitting in the bath. Completely clothed in the empty tub, legs hanging over the side.

“Why are you in the bath?” she asked. Chloe just shrugged and kept crying, taking a long drink from the bottle.

“I take it you’ve seen it.” Chloe nodded and Stacie sat on the edge of the bath. “I know this must be really hard, Chlo, but I don’t think she meant for it to hurt you.”

“I know,” Chloe choked out. “But it does hurt. It shouldn’t, but it does. Because I loved her a lot and even though I thought I was doing better I was not ready to see her kissing someone else.” Stacie turned and settled into the tub next to Chloe, letting the older girl lean into her and cry as long as she had to. 

“I’m sorry,” Chloe said eventually. “I know we had plans to go out.”

“Please,” Stacie said. “I’m always gonna be here for this stuff. Two years is hard to undo, but you’ll get there eventually.”

“Not tonight, though.”

“No, I wouldn’t think so,” Stacie said. “Do we have a plan beyond getting drunk in your bathtub?”

“Getting drunk in my living room count?”

“Only if you promise me that you only write yourself off tonight and not every night for the next week,” Stacie bargained. 

“Deal,” Chloe said. Stacie wrangled her tall frame up and held a hand down to Chloe. The redhead wrapped her arms around her.

“You always come through in a clutch, Stace,” she said. 

“Well Aubrey isn’t really available,” Stacie said, letting her chin rest on the older girl’s head.

“Yeah but you’re better than her for this anyway,” Chloe said. “You at least get that it’s not rational and you understand that I want to get drunk right now. She’d be telling me to pull myself together and smarten up.”

“Your former long term girlfriend is dating someone new,” Stacie said. “Drunk is allowed.”

It was many hours later that Stacie tucked a snoring Chloe into her bed. She wasn’t drunk herself, more concerned with taking care of her distraught friend than anything else. She headed back out to the living room and tidied up a bit before she pulled out her cell phone. She wasn’t entirely sure if Beca would pick up, but she had to try.

“Yeah, hello?” came Beca’s voice.

“Hey it’s me,” Stacie said. 

“How are you Stacie?” Beca asked.

“Me? Fine,” she replied. “Chloe, not so much.” She heard Beca blow out a long breath.

“Come on Stace, do you really think I had any idea that we were being photographed?” she retorted. “I can’t fucking help that people want to see pictures of me and lurk everywhere I go. I wasn’t exactly thrilled to see those photos myself.”

“Chloe’s devastated,” Stacie continued. “Drunk as anything. I just put her to bed. I know you didn’t mean for it to hurt her, but it did.” There was a long silence.

“Beca?”

“Yeah I’m here,” Beca said. “I just don’t really know why you’ve called. Because Chloe and I broke up five months ago, and I’ve been on one date, which was yesterday. It’s not like I’ve been fucking half of New York or something, it’s not like I’m getting married to this girl. I didn’t even meet her until after Chloe and I broke up. And it’s been equally as hard for me to figure out how to go about my life and not be in love with Chloe but I also didn’t have you or Aubrey calling and checking on me or holding my hand through this process.”

“Emily said she was with you,” Stacie said, surprised at Beca’s response.

“Emily spent as much time crying as I did, if not more,” Beca said. “She was gutted, saying it was the end of an era and she has no faith left in love any more. I ended up having to kick her out. I’ve had to do this shit all on my own, okay? And Kate is nice and sweet and the first time she asked me on a date I turned her down because I wasn’t ready. So she waited for me to be ready. This is the first time I’ve been happy in five months and you’ve what, called me to drag me down by saying my happiness is a bummer for Chloe? I’m sorry it’s shitty for her. What about my happiness, though, doesn’t that count for anything anymore? Or do I have to be miserable until Chloe’s ready?” Stacie was stunned now, because Beca was upset. Not crying, but her tone of voice had definitely changed.

“I uh - didn’t mean to upset you,” Stacie managed.

“I haven’t done anything wrong,” Beca said. “I went on a date with a really nice girl who makes me smile. And you’re the third person to now message me and make it about Chloe’s happiness, and not one of you have bothered to ask how my date went or if I’m happy. So by all means, worry about Chloe, but don’t try and make me feel bad about this okay? I just want to feel good.” The call went dead and Stacie took a few seconds to realise that Beca had in fact hung up on her. 

She actually felt immensely guilty. Because Beca had said something that she hadn’t even imagined would be the case - not one of them had even asked if she was happy. She figured the other two were probably Aubrey and Emily, but that she was one of the three made her feel horrible. She re-opened the article on her phone and scanned the pictures again.

Beca did look happy. 

She sighed and sent a text to her, knowing that she wouldn’t get a response tonight, if not a few days from now. [I’m sorry Beca, I’m an ass. You do look happy and you deserve that.] 

She sank into the couch and wondered what Chloe would feel like in the morning. Probably shitty. She was definitely going to be hung over, that was a fact. She didn’t really want to bail on her so she just headed into Chloe’s room - so drunk she’d sleep through anything - to grab a tee or something she could sleep in. She pulled off her work clothes and put the tee on, made herself some coffee and flicked the television on to kill a few hours before she fell asleep. 

She woke in the morning to the sound of Chloe hurling into the toilet. Grimacing at the sound, she went and found a bottle of water and some aspirin. She quietly padded into the bathroom and gathered Chloe’s red hair back out of her face until she was done, waiting patiently while she rinsed her mouth, brushed her teeth. She gratefully accepted the aspirin and water, almost embarrassed at how much of a mess she was.

“Stace…” she couldn’t really get the words out.

“I know,” Stacie said. “Just wanted to make sure you were alive this morning. But I’ve got some stuff I have to take care of today, so are you going to be okay?” Chloe nodded.

“I’m planning on drinking the rest of this water and going back to bed,” she said.

“And what about tomorrow and the day after?” Stacie asked. “You going to be okay?” 

“Yeah, I will,” Chloe said. “Like I said, I just needed one massive drinking session to get it over with. Give me just a second and I’ll clear out of the bathroom for you.” Stacie waited for her to finish up in there and then took her clothes from the previous night into the bathroom with her. She didn’t really have any other options because most of Chloe’s clothing was far too short on her and that was saying something because she wasn’t afraid of showing a little skin.

Before she left she stuck her head back into Chloe’s room and saw that the redhead had indeed gone back to sleep, snoring in a less-than-dignified manner. She scratched a note on a piece of paper and left it on the kitchen counter. Call me if you need anything. And then she headed home.

It appeared like Chloe was doing okay over the next few weeks. Stacie called her, they hung out. Even when more pictures of Beca and Kate had surfaced, it looked like Chloe was handling it okay. Stacie still hadn’t heard from Beca again though. She was a little worried because even though Stacie had admittedly been an ass, they’d both been Bellas and that should count for something. But there was nothing but radio silence. She didn’t want to ask Chloe if she’d heard from her but she knew for a fact Aubrey hadn’t. 

She dropped by Chloe’s on evening, the two of them heading out for dinner. She was early, Chloe was still in the shower, so she just hung out and waited, until she heard the phone ring. She didn’t want to answer it for her in case it was someone like her parents so just let it go to the answering machine. 

“Chloe this is Dr Rooker,” a concerned voice said. “We’re just a little worried since you haven’t shown up to class in almost a month. You were doing quite well and this seems very out of the ordinary and we need to discuss you getting caught up before you fall so far behind that you have to repeat the semester. It really is vital that you contact me as soon as you can.” He rattled off a number and hung up, Stacie sitting dumbfounded at what she’d just heard.

Chloe hadn’t mentioned that to her. She’d asked her how school was going on multiple occasions and the redhead had said everything was fine, she was doing well, enjoyed it. And now she was hearing that it had been a month since she’d even gone? What was she doing with all her time? 

She didn’t know what to think. She pulled her cell out and called Aubrey.

“Bree,” Stacie said. “Chloe say anything to you about dropping out of vet school?”

“Dropping out?” Aubrey said, surprised. “No, I asked her yesterday how she was doing and she said fine.”

“Some doctor from the vet school called and said she hasn’t been to class in a month and she needs to get her shit together before she falls too far behind to make up,” Stacie said. “Is this about… you know.” Aubrey was silent.

“I really don’t want to think it, but the timing would suggest so,” she said. “What are you going to do?”

“Nothing tonight,” Stacie said. “I’ll figure something out. Gotta go, she’s getting out of the shower.”

Stacie didn’t really consider herself one to be adept at easing into situations easily. She preferred to be blunt and up front. This thing with Chloe dropping out of vet school as a complete shock to her, and Chloe was definitely way too smart to let her future career just fall by the wayside, especially if the reason for it was a break up that occurred months ago. She waited for the redhead to appear and just dived straight in.

“So you got a call while I was in the shower,” she said. “Sounds like you’re having a bit of trouble keeping up with school?”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she said.

“Chlo, your instructor said you haven’t been to class in a month,” Stacie said. That made her friend freeze in her tracks and avoid her stare. “What are you even doing?”

“I tried Stace,” Chloe said quietly. “But I’m just not over her and every day thinking about the fact that she’s kissing some actress the same way she used to kiss me... it hurts too much to even do anything.”

“But you’re letting school go?”

“I hate that I’m this girl but nothing seems worth doing,” she said. “It’s just like none of it means anything without Beca. Even when I did go to class I didn’t retain anything.”

“Chlo... you’re so incredible, you get that right?” Stacie said. “All on your own, without Beca. You’re smart and beautiful and kind and it really shocks me that you can’t see that. You were this incredible human being before Beca came along, and you’re just as incredible now that she’s gone.”

“I loved Beca for a long time before we got together,” Chloe said. “And I guess I just feel like nobody is ever going to love me like that again.”

“Of course they will,” Stacie said. She felt a weird thudding in her chest. “There will be no shortage of people ready to fall in love with someone like you.” She smiled as Chloe curled into her side, and as the scent of Chloe’s shampoo invaded her space, it hit her.

She kind of might be a little bit in love with Chloe. Her eyes widened, and she was glad Chloe couldn’t see the absolute panic that ripped its way across her face for a moment. She took a second to think about it logically. 

It made sense. Of course she was in love with Chloe. Beautiful. Smart. Kind. Funny. Easygoing. Sexy. Little bit dirty sometimes. Normally embraced life to the fullest. She wanted her to be happy, above everything else.

But she was still hung up on Beca and there was no way she was going anywhere near those feelings until Beca was a finished concept. She sighed.

“You okay?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah,” Stacie said. She felt the redhead burrow back into her side. All she could do would be wait. Help her get over Beca somehow. 

“Hey Stace?” Chloe said.

“Yeah?”

“Have you heard from her lately? She used to text but I haven’t heard from her in a while,” she said. Stacie bit her lip. She hadn’t heard from Beca still.

“No, but that’s probably my fault,” Stacie admitted. 

“What do you mean?” Chloe asked.

“That day you got extremely drunk,” Stacie said. “After the first picture came out. I’d just put you to bed and I called her. Told her you were hurting. I know, it wasn’t my business. But I hated watching how sad you were.”

“What did she say?”

“She got really upset with me,” Stacie said. “Which was fair. She said that three people had called her after they’d seen that picture of her and Kate kissing to tell her how upset it must be making you, but nobody had worried about her at all. Whether she had a nice date, or if she was happy. She said that when you guys broke up it was just as hard for her but she didn’t have anyone holding her hand the whole time, she was all alone. And that Kate was nice. I guess she didn’t appreciate that as soon as she was happy for the first time after the breakup everyone immediately tried to make her feel bad about it.” Chloe was quiet for a long time.

“I didn’t want her to feel bad,” Chloe said.

“I know, and I’m sorry I stuck my nose in,” Stacie said. “I guess I was just way more focused on you.”

“I’ll go and see my course professor tomorrow,” Chloe said. “I promise. You’re right I shouldn’t flunk out of vet school over a girl. And Stacie?”

“Yeah?”

“Is she happy, do you think?”

“Well she hasn’t talked to me since,” Stacie said. “But I hope she is.”

Chloe stuck to her word. She went to her instructor to figure out how she could still pass the semester. It was going to be hard and she’d basically be studying for the rest of her natural born life, but she was committed to making it work. She figured she’d just put all the energy she wasted being hung up on Beca into school and she should be fine. 

Stacie hung out with her a lot. She’d come over after work and they’d have dinner, she’d study and Stacie would work on things as well, sometimes she’d help her, or just read, sometimes just hang out. She was a great motivator, always encouraging her, making sure she didn’t need anything. She seemed to always know when Chloe needed a break and was right there with coffee or snacks.

Stacie was keeping her cards close to her chest. She didn’t want to put any kind of romantic feelings out there, even though she was pretty sure this being in love with Chloe thing wasn’t going away. She focused on helping Chloe study instead. She made up flash cards, quizzed her, urged her to keep going when she wanted to throw her textbooks out the window. But mostly she wanted to keep her from thinking about Beca.

Beca still hadn’t contacted her or Chloe. But she kept abreast of what Beca was up to. She and Kate were still dating. It seemed like they were a good match. Both women seemed to be repeating the same phrases over and over when the press got a hold of them. They were happy. They were taking things slowly. They still had careers that they were focusing on. Stacie hoped that Beca really was happy. 

As Chloe’s semester drew to an end, she had to sit a pretty challenging exam. Two of them actually, one morning and one afternoon. Because she’d missed so much class, the exams were going to be harder than normal, and she was stressing hard about it. 

But Stacie was right there with her. She really owed Stacie big for this. She was making up all her missed work - exams notwithstanding - and she knew she wouldn’t have been able to do it without Stacie’s help. Not just the study, she knew that Stacie was trying to help her put Beca and their relationship behind her. And it was working. She didn’t feel sick to think about Beca. She still felt pangs of nostalgia, missed her from time to time. But Stacie was really being everything she needed to move on right now.

Stacie dropped Chloe off for her Saturday morning exam, and headed out to find some coffee. She was about to make a big, risky move, but she needed to talk to Beca. Because she was kind of at the point of bubbling over with how she felt about Chloe. She’d watched the girl coming back to life almost, regaining her sparkle and her personality. She was sunk. And after this exam was done, she wanted to tell Chloe how she felt. After she ordered some coffee and sat down, she pulled her cell out and called Beca.

“Yeah, hello?” Beca’s voice came groggily. It was still early and Stacie realised she might have woken her.

“Beca it’s me,” she said. “Please don’t hang up.” 

“Hang on,” Beca said quietly. There were some shuffling and moving noises before Beca spoke again. “Yeah, Stace I’m here.”

“How are you?” Stacie asked. There was a brief pause.

“I’m good,” Beca said. She didn’t elaborate.

“I guess I’ll just go for it then. Are you happy, Beca?” Stacie asked. “I’ve seen pictures and stuff and you look happy.”

“I am happy,” Beca confirmed.

“How’s Kate?” she asked.

“Well, she’s asleep,” Beca said. “But great. It’s still very simple between us. Is that really why you called?”

“I still feel like a dick for what happened last time we spoke,” Stacie said. “And I’m sorry.”

“Nah, it’s okay,” Beca said. “How is Chloe?”

“She’s doing well,” Stacie said. “And I kind of wanted to talk to you about her.”

“Oh yeah?” 

“I uh - I think… like I might be in love with her a little bit,” Stacie said. “Or a lot.”

“You’re in love with Chlo?”

“Yeah,” Stacie said. “And I know you guys are broken up and you have been for a while now. But I’d still feel weird making a move or something without talking to you about it first.”

“Stacie, she’s not mine to talk about,” Beca said. “And she hasn’t been for a while now. Honestly, I just want her to be happy, so as long as you can promise to keep her happy, I’m all for it. But you don’t need my approval or my permission.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously,” Beca said. “You guys are probably better for each other temperament wise anyway. Kinda bubbly and extroverted and shit. Not like me. Just, whatever you do… Don’t let the memory of me fuck up something good for the two of you, okay?”

“Thanks Beca,” Stacie said. She hung up and took a deep breath. That was the last obstacle out of the way. 

She headed back to Chloe’s apartment, wanting to surprise her. She wasn’t going to be home til much, much later so Stacie was planning on cooking, lighting a bunch of candles and just putting it all on the line. 

By the time she received Chloe’s call saying she was done with her exam and waiting for a cab to bring her home, Stacie was beginning to grow nervous. It was weird, she was never nervous like this when she went out looking for hook-ups. But this was Chloe, and it wasn’t a hook-up she was chasing. 

She heard the key turning in the lock a while later and stepped out of the kitchen to greet Chloe and ask how her exam was. The redhead stopped in her tracks when she saw the candles, saw Stacie. But before the taller woman could say anything, Chloe strode across the room and kissed her hard. 

Stacie was confused by this development, but wasn’t going to question it in the slightest. Chloe was kissing her deeply, arms wrapped around her neck, body pressed against hers. The embrace went on for a few long minutes, before Chloe pulled back.

“Um, okay,” Chloe said. “I know that was probably out of nowhere but as I was sitting during my break between exams I kind of realised just how much you mean to me, Stacie. So much of the last six or seven months, I wouldn’t have survived without you. And I made some stupid moves, but you never judged me and I need you around. Not just to stop me doing stupid things but you make me really, really happy. So I hope the kissing you was okay.”

“Of course it was okay,” Stacie said. “The candlelit dinner was going to be a thing but you beat me to it? I just… wanted you to see how amazing you are. And even though you’ve struggled a bit, I still think you’re incredible. And I want you to be happy, and if I’m the one making you happy, that’s a massive bonus for me.” Stacie leaned in and kissed her again, softly letting the moment settle over them.

“Did you cook for me?” Chloe asked.

“I did,” Stacie said. “So while I dish it up, you go get changed and then you can tell me all about those exams.” Chloe disappeared and Stacie focused on the food. She heard footsteps behind her and felt arms sliding around her waist. It felt wonderfully natural - casual but intimate. She couldn’t believe that Chloe had just walked in and kissed her like that.

“Stace?” Chloe said.

“Yeah?”

“I think I kind of realised when you called my ass out for letting vet school go,” she said. “You said a lot of really nice things and I know I always seem so confident but it meant a lot to me to hear that. I kind of hoped in that moment, that one day we might get to be more than friends.”

“I am very happy to hear that,” Stacie said. “Because I meant every word.” Chloe kissed her again, long and deep, stopping only so Stacie could turn the oven off to avoid ruining their dinner.


End file.
